It's 1 p.m. on a Saturday and a group of lay parish leaders is scurrying about as the eight-hour parish retreat begins. There's the registration team, the child care team, the dinner preparation team, the speakers giving their testimonies and others guiding participants in Scripture study.

At the center of it all are the 80-some parishioners from the clustered parishes of St. Columbkille and Nativity Churches in South Los Angeles who have gathered this Nov. 20 for a Spanish-language retreat and adult education experience called Encounter with Christ (Encuentro con Cristo).

To encourage turnout, childcare is offered, dinner is prepared and participants each receive an elegant, new, hardbound, Spanish-language Bible.

"I didn't have a Bible," said Jose Calderon, on why he came to the retreat. "A Bible is very important to be able to hear God's word."

In the last two years the churches have offered nine parish retreats that tie in with the Synod initiative on evangelization and the movement to offer whole community catechesis.

Latino Catholic culture is very devotional towards the saints and honoring Mary, but people need more of an introduction to Jesus and Catholic beliefs, Msgr. Tim Dyer, pastor, tells The Tidings.

"When talking about evangelization, we have to start with our own folks. They don't know the basics," says Msgr. Dyer.

In designing the basic retreat Msgr. Dyer and 11 parishioners decided to focus on what makes Catholicism distinctive from other Christian religions. They created a retreat based on evangelizing the profound impact of the sacraments, especially baptism, confirmation and Eucharist. These sacraments are presented not as one-time or even weekly events, but as a living grace that informs and blesses a family's daily life.

Parishioners also are taught a ten-step process for Scripture study that includes reading a Scripture passage in groups of three, praying together, reflecting and answering several questions that relate the scripture to a person's life and stating what action or promise the reflection and scripture encourages in a person.

"We each have a place where we hold things, where our thoughts and our emotions become grimy and we become bitter," says Marina Martinez, overall retreat coordinator. "The Word of God cleans our hearts."

Reflecting on Scripture, say parish leaders, can heal the bruises and scars of tumultuous family life, as well as the stresses of illness, addictions or violence.

In a lifetime, a person experiences many hurts, losses and deaths. The sacrament of baptism ensures that people don't face their losses alone. Jesus accompanies them through each one, says speaker Luis Muņos.

"We belong to God," he adds. "The baptismal waters mean we live in community. We are part of a community of love that is the Catholic Church."

During the participants' testimonies of faith, Jose Manuel Martinez tells his story of healing from alcoholism and a cancerous brain tumor after deciding to return to church and pray with great faith.

"When I was so sick, God was with me in the tunnel to help me get to the light," says Martinez. "I feel like a well-loved child of God."

David Fregoso, 25, said he attended the retreat to get to know God. "I need to use more the gift of strength God has given me and not hide it," said Fregoso.

Jose Vargas, 52, said he was looking for greater peace in his life. He lives in Los Angeles where he works making shoes and sends money to his wife and children in Mexico. This arrangement has kept them apart for seven years.

"The retreat renews my faith and helps me keep up the hope that soon I will be able to see my wife, children and grandchild," said Vargas.

Florinda Hernandez, 33, and a mother to four children said she enjoyed hearing the speakers. "Hearing the testimonies helps us get closer to God. I realize what other people have gone through," said Hernandez.

The nuts and bolts of the retreat are being written up in a manual so that lay teams at the two parishes and other parishes can replicate it.

Msgr. Dyer says he is most pleased he was able to recruit lay people to form a core team to develop and lead the retreat.

"It makes me hopeful," says Msgr. Dyer. "If you get a random group of people who start with faith, pray, work and put themselves in God's hands, they start to form community."